Greetings: Holiday vs. Christmas

The great debate surges into 2011. It is not the GOP presidential debate. It is not the potential Super Bowl Champion debate. It is the debate between “Happy Holiday” and Merry Christmas” as a salutation.

At this point those who are Christians are thinking that the following paragraphs will be a plea for true followers to make sure they drive the point home to all with a vibrant “Merry Christmas.” If that is the case, disappointment may ensue. Before the rocks and rotten eggs are gathered, I can assure you, “Merry Christmas” will adorn my lips this season. However, allow a few minutes of some deeper thought into not “what” is said, but rather, “why.”

There is not enough room to totally dissect the concepts that need to be flushed out. Here is the basic thought pattern:

1. Why do Christians spend so much time and money debating something that comes and goes so quickly and in the grand scheme of things does not make a difference? Has anyone heard of a single soul making a decision to follow Christ due to the holiday greeting?

2. Having to make such greetings a “topic” legalizes the freedom Christ has given us on the cross. Seriously, is anyone any more or any less of a child of Christ based on the holiday greeting? Does “Merry Christmas” make one any more or less of a follower of Christ? According to the Scripture, the answer is a flat “no.” So, what is the issue?

3. The argument boils down to one thing…the secular vs. the spiritual side of the season. Does Santa Claus rule or does Jesus? To what extent? Just like the previous points can anyone derive the amount of time and money this holiday that makes me “Christian.” Is it church on Christmas Eve? This year is it church on Christmas Eve and church on Christmas Day? Maybe it is serving in a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving and than a double dose of church for Christmas? Who holds the definitions?

Maybe by now, the point has been made. It is not manger scenes in the park and a proper greeting that makes Dec. 25 special. There is no set spiritual definition that determines Christian response on our Holy day. We aren’t to be like other religions who place demands on the followers for piety and placement with God.

I have wondered for some time now why Christians think they have to advertise Jesus on a T-shirt like he is for sale? Why do we think cliché driven church street signs and bumper stickers make a difference? Why does a Christmas greeting take so much of our time and effort?

If we have to advertise on a T-shirt, put a bumper sticker on our cars and make sure through various means everyone we meet knows I am a Christian, we missed the very teachings of Jesus. We are Christian because of who lives in us and listen carefully to the next point, who lives through us. People will know we are followers of Jesus not based on our words, but our life. Instead of wasting time ordering cute ways of expressing Jesus to others do it by one means…Love God, Love Your Neighbor…Jesus said that one.

Merry Christmas. And if you don’t believe in Jesus, I wish you a Happy Holiday.

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